Avalanche Retain Coach Bednar for Final Contract Year After Conference Finals Sweep

Colorado Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said head coach Jared Bednar and his staff will return for the 2026-27 NHL season. "We feel he's the best coach for our team," Sakic said. The Avalanche finished the regular season with the NHL's best record at 55-16-11 and 121 points, earning the President's Trophy.

They swept the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs and eliminated the Minnesota Wild in five games in the second round. The team then lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in a four-game sweep in the Western Conference Finals. Sakic noted that significant injuries to center Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar occurred during that series.

"Our style of play worked all year, until one week," Sakic said. " The 2026-27 season is the final year of Bednar's current contract. Sakic addressed speculation about the coach's future, saying, "There are a lot of people that are entering the last year of their contract.

He shouldn't be worried about it. " Sakic, 56, took over as general manager earlier this month after Chris MacFarland left to become president and general manager of the Nashville Predators. MacFarland had served as Avalanche general manager since 2022.

Sakic said he is "being GM right now" for the Avalanche. "It's business as usual on our end. We're going to make this team as good as possible so we can be a contender again," he said. Sakic said the current roster is built for a multi-year run at the Stanley Cup.

"We could panic, blow everything up and start all over. But what this team did over the course of a year was pretty remarkable," he said. " The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022. Sakic previously served as the team's general manager beginning in 2014 before moving to president of hockey operations when MacFarland was promoted.